Wednesday, December 3, 2008

... This week just gone I've been in the recording studio working on the second series of Stargate audio adventures for the good people at Big Finish productions [Click Here to learn more].

First Prime is my third script for the audios, a Stargate SG-1 story featuring Christopher Judge as Teal'c and guest-starring Noel Clarke, the aforementioned ex-boyfriend of Rose Tyler, star of Kidulthood, Adulthood and a blazingly talented actor/writer/director.

Part of First Prime's plotline involves Teal'c and Noel's character Sebe't fighting with staff weapons, but without Chris in the studio, someone had to be his radio stunt double for some of the combat scenes - cue Jim. And so, I got to be Judge's stand-in, snarling and grunting, making oof! and rargh! noises. It's nice work if you can get it.

Apparently I was so good at it - or maybe it was just that I was the only spare body in the studio, who can say - that when Neil Roberts (who recently appeared in my Doctor Who audio Kingdom of Silver) came in to give his sterling performance in the forthcoming Stargate Atlantis audio The Kindness of Strangers, I got tapped once again, this time to play Doctor Carson Beckett, in lieu of Paul McGillion. Everyone was very generous about my attempts at a Scottish accent.

Michael Hogan, the surly Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica, answered a few questions during his guest of honour appearance at the recent MCM Expo in London. He talked to Den Patrick about eye patches, the end of the CIC and being a frakking Cylon.

... Have you been happy with the progression of your character throughout the series? Especially now that Tigh has been revealed as a Cylon…

I’m definitely happy with the progression of the character throughout the series… until he became a Cylon [laughs].

Ron Moore and David Eick have always picked up the phone when I’ve called with a concern throughout all of the five years. So I’ve learned over time to go with them if they insist on something.

The issue I’m really talking about is when they send Tigh down to New Caprica. Well, Tigh wouldn’t leave that ship, and for very good reasons. But they insisted Tigh go down to New Caprica. Well, look at what they wrote for season three; as an actor, you couldn’t get a better meal than that.

So with the Cylon thing, I did initially think it was a cheap shot. Someone told me that there was this poll on the web and people voted on who was most likely to be a Cylon on Battlestar Galactica. Saul Tigh was the second from the last!

Now that’s pretty cheap. I mean, do you make him a Cylon just because it would be a surprise? But, no, they [Moore and Eick] had thought it out. And knowing, after all those years, when they said they wanted me to be a Cylon, I said, “OK, I’ll argue it, but I don’t have any facts to argue with.” This was just a gut a thing ...

We've picked a more serious topic for this week's extended discussion: fan entitlement. What do viewers have the right to expect from the show? Should long-time fans be able to influence plot and character directions? How should we behave toward actors at conventions? We hope you enjoy this unique and important (if also extra-long) topic.

Darren and David also talk about the latest features on GateWorld, and give you a sneak preview of our upcoming interview with writer, director, and executive producer Martin Gero!

From SciFi Talk, an episode preview (please follow the link for the complete preview):

EPISODE #110 "Warriors"

Written By: Peter MohanDirected By: Brenton Spencer

AIRDATE: Friday, December 12, 2008 @ 10PM ET/PT

Will (ROBIN DUNNE) receives a call from the wife of a college friend who needs his help finding her missing husband, Danny (BYRON LAWSON). Enlisting Magnus (AMANDA TAPPING) and Ashley (EMILIE ULLERUP), Will and the team follow a lead to an abandoned factory hoping to find a clue to his whereabouts.

The warehouse is void of any activity, but they all sense that something suspicious has been taking place. Dried blood on the floor and evidence of epinephrine lead them to suspect that the space serves as an underground training facility or fight ring. But before they can gather more information, they hear a clatter from a shadowy corner of the room.

Pulling her gun, Magnus approaches the sound and is astonished to find herself looking face to face at a man she is convinced is none other than her father and mentor Gregory...although the roguish man, who calls himself Charlie, vehemently disagrees (JIM BYRNES). Reluctantly, he accompanies the team back to the Sanctuary where Magnus continues to press him for information about the fight ring and who might be behind it. All the while, she tries to fathom how this man could possibly look so much like her deceased father, yet behave so differently than the medical pioneer she loved and revered...

It’s always a treat to sit down with Damon and Carlton. Not only are they adept at breaking great stories, but they can work a crowd like nobody’s business. This morning, Walt Disney Home Entertainment set up an online chat with Bad Robot’s dynamic duo regarding next week’s release of Lost: Season Four on DVD and Blu-ray. The amazing thing is that they were surprisingly forthcoming about what we can expect from the show’s final two seasons. This isn’t a spoiler-laden discussion, but there are enough little nuggets to keep Lost fans hungry for that January 21 premiere.

Oh, and while the chat was going on, Disney shared two of the Season Four set’s many bonus features. One was Damon and Carlton doing their deadpan Abbott and Costello routine on the subject of flashforwards, and the other a History Channel inspired investigation of the truth behind the Oceanic Six.

A brief excerpt:

Q: It seems that the next season will have stories set in two time frames. Does this mean that you have to outline the story of the season in advance in ways you never did before?

Cartlon Cuse: Our approach to the story telling changed drastically once we were able to negotiate an end date to the show. Before that we didn’t know if the mythology had to last two seasons or seven seasons. Once we knew there were only going to be 48 eps of the show left we were able to start charting out the remaining journey. We approach it on three levels. First we have discussions about the uber-mythology and plant the big landmark events in rough locations. Then at the end of each season we have a writer’s mini camp where we discuss the arc of the upcoming season in great detail. Then we break each individual episode and see where we end up at the end of each break. We give ourselves a fair about of latitude to listen to the show and react — writing more or less for various characters or situations depending on how they play.

Q: Watching Season Four in one sitting on DVD, do you think there’s a break in style between the pre-strike and post-strike episodes?

Damon Lindelof: Hopefully not, Charlie. The fact of the matter is that we designed out — at least roughly — the entire sixteen episode season… planting flags as to what would happen where in the grand scheme of things. In that original design, there were a couple of episodes focusing more on the Freighter Folks (Faraday, Miles, and Charlotte) that got pushed into this season, but more importantly, things like Jack’s appendicitis and Keamy arriving at New Otherton and killing Alex happened SOONER than we had planned due to the collapsed schedule. I think if there’s a sense of separation between the first eight episodes (ending with “Meet Kevin Johnson”) and the final six hours, it’s that the story is really moving at a much higher rate of speed than we’re traditionally accustomed to.